Sunday, July 12, 2009

Ganga - recent news

Fishes in Ganga can breathe easy againshivani vig, TNN 10 July 2009, 10:38pm IST | KANPUR: If the monitoring done by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) is any indication, the Anoxic Bioremediation (ABR) treatment for 5 mld Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Jajmau and on-channel treatment of sewage drain have been considerably successful in reducing the water odour, reduce Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and turbidity in the waste water. This would also help in survival of aquatic life.

Notably, to save aquatic life in the Ganga and to effectively treat waste water, two pilot projects had been initiated by WWF India's Living programme in the city which are -- Use of ABR in the 5 mld STP at Jajmau and on-channel treatment of sewage on the 3 km stretch of the Singhpur-Kalyanpur Nullah (Near DPS school).

The monitoring done at the STP by Pollution Control Board before and after ABR treatment showed that BOD level was brought down within the prescribed limit. The BOD before treatment which was sampled at 320 mg/l (mg/l) was found to be about 60 after the ABR process.

"The monitoring results have shown that 60-70 per cent of BOD has been reduced, but it being only one time sampling, the efficacy of the ABR process cannot be concluded on this sampling alone and we would have to wait for more testing results," claimed Radhey Shyam, regional officer, UPPCB.

Similarly, the suspended particles which were found to be 766 mg/l, after the treatment were recorded to be only 176 mg/l thus reducing the turbidity in outlet channel due to the oxidation of organic matter present in the sludge.

The STP was not the lone example of this new technique, the on-channel stretch of the Singhpur-Kalyanpur also showed the results vis-a-vis reduced turbidity and BOD. More so, the site was free from odour.

Meanwhile, the Pollution Control Board scientists also claimed that the efficiency of the ABR treatment would depend on the proper doses and maintenance of the process and thus, trained manpower would be required for its maintenance in the long run.

Dr Suresh Rohilla, director and team leader of WWF India's Living Ganga programme said, "The process does not require any electricity."

He added that at present Kanpur requires a lot of electricity for pumping of waste including high operation and maintenance cost for waste water treatment. "The successful implementation of the pilot projects will set the roadmap, reduce the power consumption and will create a footprint of the city on the Ganga system and emerge as a model city in the Ganga basin," maintained Rohilla.

Interestingly, Kanpur Nagar Nigam being the regulatory body would decide upon the extension of these pilot projects. "We are waiting for the completion of these projects. If the results are positive, we would look forward to the implementation of the ABR treatment to other sites," pointed out municipal commissioner KNN, P K Pandey.